


Baby, You're Brighter Than The Sun

by Finnoola



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Just a little bit of Angst, M/M, Popular!Mark, Secret Admirer, a little ooc, insecure donghyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-15 21:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14798564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finnoola/pseuds/Finnoola
Summary: Where Donghyuck starts to get cute notes and gifts from an unknown person





	Baby, You're Brighter Than The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> *Laughs nervously*  
> Well, this is not my first fic, but it is my first NCT one, so bear with me. I'm pretty sure the characters are a little OOC, but I tried my best and hope you enjoy it!  
> Honestly, I was working on another NCT fic, but I got stuck and then sidetracked and then this happened...  
> Also, I have like two other fics in progress that need to be finished but I don't have any ideas and I'm drowning in school assignments.  
> Sighs, anyways, I hope you like this fic, kudos and comments are appreciated!

Donghyuck isn’t sure what he was expecting when he opened his locker before first period on Monday, but it certainly wasn’t the thin baby blue envelope that fell out and onto the floor in front of him. He pauses, startled by its appearance. The junior looks around the hallway cautiously, trying to catch sight of any unusual activity that might suggest that it was a joke. Nobody is even remotely interested in the honey-blonde teen, everyone too absorbed in their own trivial teenage drama. 

He crouches down and picks the envelope off the floor before straightening back up. It’s unaddressed, and there seems to be something else besides a note in it. Donghyuck carefully pulls the flap out and pulls the note out. He doesn’t recognize the handwriting, so it’s definitely not one of his friends playing a practical joke. 

His face grows warm as he reads each line in the note, cheeks a vivid shade of red by the time he’s done. 

 

_ Good morning Sunshine!  _

 

_ Here’s something that shines almost as bright as you. :) _

 

_ Your Secret Admirer, _

 

_ M _

 

He reads it a few more times, as if to tell himself that yes, he really did get a love letter (note, really) and that this person thinks he resembles the sun itself. Donghyuck turns the envelope upside down and shakes the contents out into his palm. A pretty silk choker with a sun pendant falls out. The ribbon is black and long, suggesting that it needs to be tied around his neck, and the ends have small golden metal stars hanging. The sun pendant is a small burnt orange glass ball, with a gold metal cutout of the sun’s rays around the circumference of it.  

A small sound of awe falls from his lips as he takes in the beautiful gift his admirer had given him. Donghyuck’s lips curl into a small pleased smile, that he tries to stop to no avail. He brings it closer to his face and a wide grin finally breaks out across his face. Humming cheerfully, he returns the note and the choker to the envelope, and holds it against his lips. He smiles.

 

The note comes up at lunch when he sits down at their usual table in the cafeteria. Donghyuck’s not the one who brings it up, it’s Chenle who does. The freshman was rummaging around in Donghyuck’s backpack for gum when he noticed the small blue envelope tucked in between the pages of a textbook. 

“Hey, what’s this?” 

He freezes when he sees the envelope in the younger’s hands. His eyes are wide as everyone at the table turns to look at Chenle and then Donghyuck. 

“Uh-um, its-its just, you know,” He stutters, a blush spreading over his cheeks as he tries to explain the blue piece of paper. Its Jaemin who saves him the trouble of trying to lie his way out of this as he leans over the table and plucks the envelope from Chenle’s hand. Chenle makes an indignant noise, trying to grab the envelope back from the other. 

Jaemin opens it promptly, reading the note without preamble. His eyebrows raise as he reads it and Donghyuck sinks further into his seat. He wishes that a hole would just open up from underneath him and swallow him whole into the ground at this point. Usually, he’s loud and mischievous, always ready to fire a snarky comment. He doesn’t get embarrassed easily, but the note makes him uncharacteristically bashful, for reasons even he can’t discern. 

“Lee Donghyuck, is this a love note from a secret admirer?” The smile on Jaemin’s face is large and unrelenting, as the other’s all turn towards him in uncontained glee. “From your secret admirer ‘M’? Wonder who that could be…?”

Chenle squeals, hitting Jisung on the arm repeatedly. “Oh! I bet it’s from  _ you know who _ !” 

Donghyuck immediately snaps out of his flustered stupor, vehemently denying it. 

“What! No!” He glares at the ecstatic teen, crossing his arms and looking away promptly, a fierce blush still painted across his cheeks. “There is no way that it’s _ him _ . He barely even knows me, why would it be him?” 

_ Him _ , being the most popular boy at their school, basketball captain and student council president, Mark Lee. Mark’s a senior, and way out of Donghyuck’s league. He’s too nice and too sweet, always helping the freshman find their way to class in the first month of school. He’s incredibly good looking, and girls (and some guys) are always falling over themselves in order to get noticed by him. Practices and games were always full of his fans and the screams that happened every time he made a basket, or godforbid, lifted his shirt up to wipe away the sweat on his face were always earsplitting. Of course it’d be a lie to say that he went to the team’s basketball games (without an ulterior motive) to support Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun’s boyfriend and also Donghyuck’s friend, when he really went so he could ogle at Mark without anyone finding it weird. 

He’s had a few encounters with him before. Once in vocals when the vocals teacher had asked the senior if could play the guitar for the club and had complimented him on how good his voice was. When Donghyuck had turned a corner and had quite literally bumped into him, Mark just smiling beautifully at him and telling him not to worry about it when he apologized. He’d just about fainted when that happened and had been out of it for the rest of the day. It was safe to say that it might be a little more than a crush, seeing as he had liked him for almost all of high school. 

“I don’t know Hyuck,” Jaemin says shrugging his shoulders, “Jeno tells me that he does know who you are and that you seem nice.” 

Renjun nods beside him, taking the note and envelope from the other’s hand and finally noticing the gift. Chenle and Jisung’s eyes practically bulge out of their heads when they see the choker. 

“He got you a necklace?” Chenle shrieks, practically lying across the table to get a better look at it. 

“You should read the note, Lele, it’s so cheesy.” 

Renjun smiles as he hands the note over to him and Chenle’s voice reaches the highest pitch it’s ever been since they first met. 

“Oh my god that’s so cute! Why can’t I have a secret admirer like this?” 

Jisung makes a face at Chenle’s words, the others rolling their eyes at the two youngest in exasperation. Donghyuck tunes out his friends after Chenle hands the note and necklace back to him. 

He dares himself to glance over at where Mark is sitting with the rest of the basketball team and Jeno. Mark’s laughing at something Lucas said, shoving the other in the side. There’s a brief moment where he’s sure the other looks over and smiles gently in his direction before being pulled back into the conversation with his friends. Donghyuck smiles a little before frowning at the envelope in his hands.  _ If only what Chenle said was true….. _

  
  


For the next week, Donghyuck receives different coloured envelopes with small little notes. Sometimes they say little things like ‘I hope you have a good day!’ or ‘I heard you have a test today, good luck! :)’. Other times, its compliments. ‘Your smile is brighter than the sun.’, ‘When you laugh I can’t help but smile because you look so happy.’, and ‘I’m here to tell you something, you look beautiful today! ;)’. 

The notes make him incredibly happy, and he’s kept every single one in a drawer in his dresser. It’s Tuesday, and today he’s received a second gift with his ninth note. It’s a bracelet, filled with little charms. There’s a star, a moon, a sun (obviously), a lion, and a fox. He puts it on immediately, holding up his hand to examine it on his wrist. It brings a giddy smile to his lips.

The bracelet reminds him he hasn’t worn the choker yet, and he decides to remind himself to wear it tomorrow. Smiling happily to himself, he closes his locker after getting the books he needed for the morning and turning down the hallway to his first class. He’s surprised to hear someone calling his name from down the hall near the gym. It’s an understatement that he's surprised to see who it is when he turns around. 

Mark Lee is jogging down the hall, having just come from an early basketball practice. He’s still wearing his practice clothes, and his hair is sticking to his forehead from sweat. When he gets about an arm’s length from Donghyuck, he stops and braces his hands on his knees for a moment to catch his breath. 

Donghyuck is trying but failing miserably to keep the furious blush off his face. His heart does a little flip when Mark straightens up and pushes his hair back from his forehead. He smiles at him, and Donghyuck screams internally.

“I wanted to congratulate you, I heard you got the lead for the school’s musical, that’s amazing!” The compliment has him floundering for a moment, his mouth opening a little in shock. His brain conveniently forgets how to form sentences and for the next few seconds he fumbles over his words trying to say thanks.

“O-oh, um, t-thanks, uh, I mean, it’s no big deal really, I-I think I did okay,” He knows his face is bright red and he can’t help but curl further into himself and hug his books closer to his chest. 

_ This is so embarrassing! _ He screams in his head, pulling his sweater sleeves over his hands as he fidgets in Mark’s presence.  _ I can’t believe I stuttered like that, okay? Okay? Wow, just shoot me in the face, good job Hyuck he probably thinks you're stupid now. _

Mark just smiles, laughing a little at the other’s response. Donghyuck almost dies on the spot when he hears something that suspiciously sounds like “Cute” fall from the other’s lips. His eyes widen and his cheeks burn. 

He watches, frozen, as Mark turns around to yell back at one of his teammates who has poked his head out to call for their captain. Mark turns around, an apologetic smile on his face. 

“Sorry, I gotta go, but I’ll see you around?” He says already walking backwards. It takes a few seconds for Donghyuck to realize that the he’s waiting for an answer from him. 

“Ah, y-yeah, seeya a-around.” 

Marks smiles at him again and waves. He forces himself to wave back, watching as the other turns back into the gymnasium. Donghyuck stands there slowly lowering his hand, the past few minutes finally starting to sink in. There’s a brief moment where he just stands there, before he drops his books and covers his face with his hands. 

“He said cute, he definitely called me cute holy shit.” He’s torn between shrieking in joy and dancing around stupidly or curling up into a ball and sobbing. Well, at least his crush thinks he’s cute. 

 

The next day Donghyuck remembers to wear the choker. It’s tied into a perfect bow at the back of his neck, the pendant sitting in the hollow of his neck. He’s excited to see what his secret admirer has written for him today. 

It’s entirely a lie to say he isn’t bouncing on the balls of his feet when he opens his locker that morning. A giant smile breaks out onto his face when he sees a pale purple envelope fall out. He picks it up quickly, already anticipating what could only be another sweet compliment written on the pale purple paper in the envelope. 

 

_ Good morning! _

 

_ I see you wore the gift I gave you yesterday. It looks good on you! I picked the charms, I wonder if you can figure out why I picked those specific ones? ;P  _

 

_ I’ll give you a couple of hints about the first two! The sun is obviously you! You remind me of the sun, people are always pulled towards you and you literally brighten up the room whenever you walk in. Well, at least to me, haha.  _

 

_ Remember when you dyed your hair red last year? I didn’t get to tell you, but I thought you looked amazing with it! It complimented your skin really nicely. I’ve always thought you had pretty skin, is that weird? I hope not, haha, I just think it really reinforces how much you remind me of the sun. Well, anyways, when you did, it reminded me of a fox. Foxes are characterized as being mischievous and tricky, and I’ve heard and seen that you can orchestrate quite the prank! You also seem to be great at making people laugh, which is something else I like about you.  _

 

_ Now, the moon and the lion are me. I’m not going to give you anything other than those two hints. ;) I hope you can figure out why those are me when we meet. I’m not quite ready to abandon this little thing we have going on yet, and I don’t have the courage, well not yet, to confess to you. So I hope you can wait a little longer for me Hyuck! _

 

_ Love,  _

 

_ M _

 

Lion and the moon? Does he know anyone that could be described as being like a lion or the moon? Donghyuck pouts as he thinks, unable to remember if he’s heard about anyone being attributed to those two things. It’s not particularly important right now, and he’s soon going back to how M ended the note. Instead of him going ‘Sincerely, your secret admirer’, or ‘From, your secret admirer’, he had written ‘Love’. 

He’s also reeling from the compliments that are littered throughout the note as well. Donghyuck feels like his heart is about to burst from the words, butterflies swarming his stomach. 

Throughout the day he gets a lot of compliments from people about his necklace, and it makes him happy when he thinks about who gave it to him in the first place. 

 

At the end of the day Donghyuck receives another note. 

 

_ You wore the necklace today! It looks even better than I thought it would on you ;) _

 

He squeals.

 

Donghyuck’s checked his reflection about 20 times since he left his house. He’d bought this new lip gloss and he was worried that it was either too much or it looked weird on  him. It had a bit of shine to it, and was a pale pink colour. Makeup was something he didn’t wear a lot of, and it was usually just light eyeshadow and some gloss. Of course, he still got a little nervous when he wore it, but the compliments from club members in drama or vocals always boosted his confidence. 

There’s the usual note, this time in pale pink, with a simple message of wishing him a good day. The rest of the day goes by without a hitch, and the pointless worrying over the lip gloss fades. 

It’s the end of the day and Donghyuck just wants to go home because Mr. Park just had to give him the most ridiculous assignment in history class today and he needs a nap before he even thinks about doing it. The second note is a nice surprise when he opens his locker for the final time that day. The contents of said note, make Donghyuck want to melt into a puddle of goo and with how red his face is, its safe to say he’s a little more than flustered from the note.

 

_ I almost couldn’t help myself when I saw you today. The urge to kiss you was so intense, I almost risked revealing myself to you. Your lips looked extra soft and plump, I just wanted to kiss you senseless.  _

 

_ I think you should wear that lip gloss more often. ;) _

 

Donghyuck curls into a ball and squeals into his hands. His face is burning and now he just really wants to know who M is.

 

Between homework and after school practice, it was finally time for the school musical. It would be a lie to say that Donghyuck wasn’t nervous. For all the boasting he did in front of his friends, he was still scared that he’d mess up. He had practiced for the role even before auditions, and he never once skimped out on practice even after he got the role. 

Donghyuck wanted his performance to be perfect. He was a mess the whole day, and while the sweet encouraging note from M curbed his nervousness for a bit, he was still a giant ball of nerves. At lunch they had a meeting, the director of the play and the drama teacher wanted to give them one last pep talk before the show after school. 

By last period, Donghyuck was a nervous wreck. He played off his nervousness nonchalantly in front of his friends, claiming that a vocal legend such as him couldn’t be bothered with getting pre-show jitters. Even with all his bravado, he was a mess. 

When the time came for the actors and stage crew to be at school, Donghyuck smiled thankfully at his parents who wished him good luck before leaving to find seats in the auditorium. 

On his way backstage Donghyuck encountered classmates and teachers who wished him luck and slowly his nerves ebbed away.

The musical went on without a hitch. At curtain call his friends had screamed and clapped loudly, while his parents smiled at him proudly. When he returned to backstage everybody congratulated each other on a job well done and the drama teacher Mrs. Woodrow promised to bring food on Monday for their hard work. 

In the flurry of the backstage, Donghyuck went back to one of the dressing rooms to get changed so he could go meet his friends and family outside. When he got back to the room amidst all the chaos, he was surprised to see a red rose and a little piece of white paper on the dressing room table. 

He picked up the rose and the paper, turning it over and seeing the very familiar scrawl of M. 

_ Wow! I’m speechless! You did so well Hyuck! I’m so proud of you! I still can’t believe you can sing like that, you’re just too good! I heard from people that you were nervous, but I can see that you really had nothing to be nervous about! Here’s a little present for you, and I hope I can hear you sing again.  _

 

_ Love, _

_ M _

 

Donghyuck smiled and brought the rose up to his lips, pure joy running through his veins. 

 

Donghyuck is already so used to the small colourful notes that make his days better, but when he opens his locker Monday morning to no note, his heart sinks. Maybe M forgot? Maybe he’ll write him a note later today? 

While Donghyuck reassured himself that that was the case and went through his day normally, when he returned to his locker, there was still no note to be found. He went home that day with a heavy heart and a small frown on his face. 

It continued like that for the rest of the week. Everyday, he would get his hopes up and wait to see the little notes, but was always met with a note-less locker. By Thursday, he was convinced M had gotten tired of him, that the past month was nothing and Donghyuck had put too much of his heart in M in order to get over his crush. 

He was moping mess, that at lunch, his friends couldn’t stand to see him like this anymore, and tried to cheer him up. 

“Listen,” Renjun said, “maybe he’s just busy? I mean, we have been getting a lot of assignments as of late.”

The others nodded, Chenle patting Donghyuck's head which was resting on his arms on the table. “Yeah, or maybe he’s just not worth your time. Whatever, it’s his loss anyways.”

Donghyuck tried to listen to his friends and convince himself that it wasn’t something to get so upset over, but the growing ache in his chest wouldn’t stop. That night he went home and read every single note that he had ever gotten. He fell asleep with tears running down his cheeks, holding the charm bracelet next to his heart.  

The next week, Donghyuck went to school with puffy eyes and a heavy heart. His face was devoid of any emotion as he made his way slowly down the hall to his locker. He knew he couldn’t avoid going to it, as he needed his textbooks for class. But he dreaded opening his locker, not wanting to be meet with the emptiness it had been graced with for the past week.

With a deep sigh, he turned the combination onto his lock and closed his eyes. He opened the door slowly, and a small noise greeted him. Cautiously, he opened his eyes and found a small pale orange envelope sitting on the ground before him. His eyes widen and his heart quickened when he laid eyes on the familiar piece of paper. 

He quickly scooped it up and opened it, eyes already racing over the note inside.

 

_ I’m so sorry! Last week got real busy, what with practice and assignments, so I was unable to write you any notes. You must’ve felt so sad when you didn’t receive a note on Monday. I feel terrible. I saw you later on in the week and you looked so sad, was that because of me? I feel so bad that I made you feel that way, I really don’t deserve you. Writing notes will be hard for the next little while….so I thought of a way that we could finally talk that would be quicker and more convenient...of course, if you still want to? I’ll be waiting tonight for your answer.  _

 

_ Sincerely sorry, _

 

_ M xxx-xxx-xxxx _

 

Donghyuck couldn’t believe it. M had given him his number, so that they could finally interact and so that he could finally talk to him. He wasn’t going to let this chance pass him by. Besides, M had sounded terribly distraught in his note to him, worried that Donghyuck wouldn’t want to receive notes from him anymore. 

Just wait until he told his friends.

He did tell his friends and they had all insisted that they go over to Donghyuck’s house to be there when he finally texted him. Jaemin and Chenle were making a huge deal out of it, while Jisung and Renjun were just coming along to make sure that they didn’t make Donghyuck do anything stupid. 

“Come on, Hyuck, just text him ‘hi’ or something,” Jaemin sighed, lying on Donghyuck’s bed. “It’s not rocket science.” 

Donghyuck chewed on his bottom lip nervously as he stared down at his phone. He was sitting at his desk, Chenle peering over his shoulder. Jisung was too busy eating the snacks Donghyuck’s mom had brought up to offer any advice. 

“He’s got a point,” Renjun hums from his position on the floor, head pillowed on his arms. “Just say ‘Hey, its Donghyuck’, and be done with it, that’s all you gotta do.” 

“I guess..” Donghyuck murmured, thumbs twiddling nervously over the keyboard on screen. 

With a deep breath, he started typing out his text to M. When he was done he hit send and waited. 

 

_ To: M _

_ From: Donghyuck _

 

_ Hey, its donghyuck _

 

It was only a few seconds that had passed when his phone pinged and sent everyone in the room into a panic. “He responded! He responded, guys what do I do?!” 

Jaemin fell off the bed in his haste to get over to Donghyuck, while Chenle was too busy screaming to offer any advice. Jisung had finally decided to pay attention and was moving from his spot. While Renjun looked on completely done with them all.

“Respond back dummy! What did he say?!” Jaemin yelled, grabbing hold of Donghyuck’s arm. 

 

_ From: M _

_ To: Donghyuck _

 

_ Hi! I thought you wouldn’t text me….I got a little worried and I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with me after I forgot about the notes _

 

_ To: M _

_ From: Donghyuck _

 

_ Its no big deal! You were busy, its cool _

 

_ From: M _

_ To: Donghyuck _

 

_ That’s a relief, I was worried there for a second, but I’m glad I didn’t lose you _

_ I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my sun _

 

Donghyuck blushed, while Chenle ran around the room losing his shit. “Oh my god that was smooth, Jeno needs to take some notes.” Jaemin whistled. 

The others left when Donghyuck was too absorbed in his conversation with M, a wide grin plastered on his face. They talked for hours, about everything and anything; favourite food, what music they listened to, hobbies, likes and dislikes. The conversation never hit a pause, and by the end of the night, when they said good night to each other, both went to sleep with smiles on their faces. 

 

Even though they can talk to each other whenever they please, Donghyuck still finds notes in his locker sometimes. It’s not everyday, but often enough that it puts a smile on his face. He’s not sure why M tries to keep the notes going, even when he knows how much work the other has to do. 

 

_ To: M _

_ From: Donghyuck _

 

_ Why do you keep sending me notes? _

_ You know you can text me whenever, right?  _

 

Donghyuck lies on his stomach on his bed, kicking his legs in the air as he waits for a response from him. 

 

_ From: M _

_ To: Donghyuck _

 

_ It’s sorta our thing right?  _

_ Besides, I like seeing the smile on your face when you get when them, it never gets old :)  _

 

He blushes at the answer M gives, squealing into his pillow.

 

_ To: M _

_ From: Donghyuck _

 

_ (*ﾉωﾉ) _

 

_ From: M _

_ To: Donghyuck _

 

_ Haha, you’re cute _

_ Did I make you blush? ;) _

 

_ To: M _

_ From: Donghyuck _

 

_ SHut UP  _

  
  


Later that week, Donghyuck bumps into Mark on his way to second period. He compliments him as they pass each other in the hall. 

“Hey Donghyuck, nice job with the musical, you were really good!” Mark smiles at him beautifully, light brown hair pushed slightly off his forehead. 

He blushes at the praise, even when his heart screams at him not to. Even though he has M now, he still can’t shake the feelings he’s harboured for most of high school. 

“T-thanks,” He stutters, mentally smacking himself for stuttering like a school girl in front of their crush (which he was, mind you). The brief interaction has him zoning out during math, equations and variables flying over his head as he thinks about that brief interaction for the rest of the morning. 

He’s finally pulled out of his daze, when at lunch Renjun mentions something about moons and lions in association with someone. His head snaps towards the other, eyes widening. 

“Wh-what did you say about lions?” 

Everyone turns their attention towards Donghyuck, confused looks plastered on their faces. Jaemin shares a look with Renjun, while Jisung stares at him like he’s grown another head. 

“What, what is it?” He looks as confused as he feels, not understanding why his friends are giving him that look. 

“Hyung,” Chenle starts, looking at him, “You of all people should know, I mean, he is your crush.”

He feels like there’s a huge question mark in bright neon lights above his head so Jaemin saves him the trouble of figuring it out himself by telling him.  

“Have you been living under a rock? We’re talking about how Mark’s fanclub nicknamed him ‘baby lion’ cause he apparently looks like one. In my defense its kinda lame, like really, baby lion? Come on. And how he’s like the moon? Really people? Give me a break.”

Jisung snorts. “Shut up hyung, you’re just jealous you don’t have a fan club that gives you dumb nicknames that you’d love anyway and wax poetic about how you remind them of a space rock.” 

“Yah, Park Jisung-” Donghyuck tunes out immediately after Jaemin tells him.  _ There’s no way, _ he thinks, looking down at the charm bracelet on his wrist, the lion and moon charms staring back at him tauntingly.  _ M, is Mark?  _

Donghyuck doesn’t respond to M’s texts that night. 

The next morning he plays it off by saying he was buried in homework and had fallen asleep while doing it. M buys it. He feels bad that he ignored M, but it’s probably for the best considering he would’ve lost his shit right then and there and texted him something that probably would’ve looked a lot like keyboard smashing and ‘YOU’RE MARK LEE’ in all caps mixed in there just for good measure. 

While Donghyuck looked calm on the outside, he was internally freaking out. He really couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that his crush of three years was possibly, most likely, the secret admirer that had been giving him gifts and showering him in praises for the past month and a half. So, in all honesty, he was taking this as well as you’d expect. Not well and with a lot of doubt and overthinking. 

Even if the signs were all staring right at him in the face, he was still unwilling to let himself believe, that maybe, just maybe, his crush wasn’t hopeless after all. 

Of course, after a few days of stilted conversation (on Donghyuck’s side, he was most likely talking to his crush and that made him terribly awkward), he received a text on Thursday, asking him if he could meet M in the gym after school tomorrow. 

Needless to say, Donghyuck freaked. 

 

After his brother promptly told him to shut up, Donghyuck quickly typed out a reply, agreeing to meet after school. He didn’t sleep that night, too busy worrying over what was going to happen after school. 

It was safe to say that he was a hot mess when morning came, and that he spent too much time making sure he looked good, that he was almost late to school. He made it barely with time to spare, and had to endure a scathing glare from Mrs. Park when he glided through the door right when the bell rang all through first period. 

He was so nervous that he didn’t eat lunch, screwed up an experiment in biology, and almost walked into the door to his history class. 

By the end of the day, Donghyuck was sweating buckets and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Since it was Friday, his friends asked him if he would like to have a movie night at Jaemin’s. 

“S-sorry guys, maybe I’ll meet you later? I left something in the gym, seeya!”

He rushed down the hall towards the gym, his friends staring after him. 

Jaemin looked at Renjun, and then Chenle and Jisung. “We didn’t have gym today, when the hell did he leave something there?” 

Donghyuck was out of breath by the time he made it to one of the four sets of doors leading into the gym. He braced his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath and slow his heart rate down. When he straightened up, he heard thumping from inside the gym and his heartbeat increased rapidly. 

With a deep breath he opened the door to the gym, slowly walking in. Someone stood with his back to him, a basketball clutched in their hands. He watched as they dribbled the ball before shooting it into the hoop. The ball hit the ground and rolled to a stop in front of him, hitting his foot. 

His breath caught in his throat when M turned around to face him. If he wasn’t so focused on not having a heart attack, Donghyuck would have been hightailing it out of there, because standing right in front of him, was Mark Lee. 

“M” or Mark, stands there nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, a nervous habit Donghyuck had seen him do often at games. “Surprise?” 

Donghyuck stares blankly at him, still unable to comprehend what was happening. 

He watches as Mark takes a deep breath, steeling himself before talking. “Lee Donghyuck, I like you.” 

Donghyuck blushes, mouth opening a little in shock.  _ No fucking way. _

__

The older continues. “Donghyuck, I’ve liked you ever since my sophomore year, when Mr. Kim asked me if I could play guitar for the vocals club. I was just there to help him out, but, in the end I met you. You were nervous, because it was your first time singing in front of a lot of people, you were wearing a huge blue sweater, I thought you were so cute, I couldn’t stop staring. And when you opened your mouth and sang, I knew I was gone. You didn’t even have to try and I was so smitten with you after one song.” 

__

He can’t believe it, he really can’t. His crush, the one he’s liked for 3 years, has practically liked him for as long as he has. It’s too good to be true as Donghyuck listens to Mark talk. 

__

“I couldn’t figure out a way to confess, and I was just too nervous that you wouldn’t like me back. So, I just waited, until suddenly, it was my senior year and I was going to be graduating soon. The notes were something that just came to me, and since I didn’t want to waste anymore time, I went with it. And when you got the first one, you smiled so big, I just wanted to see you do it again and again for as long as I could.” 

__

By the time Mark’s finished, Donghyuck is sure he is blushing from his head to his toes. Mark stares at him imploringly, before asking him, “Hyuck, do you like me?” 

__

He can’t open his mouth at first, so he just nods rapidly. The smile that breaks out on the other’s face has Donghyuck’s heart clenching, but the doubt that was hiding in the back of his mind rears its head, and Donghyuck finally speaks.  

__

“I’m still not sure why you like me, I mean, I’m not as popular as you are. You’re student council president and captain of the basketball team. Everybody knows who you are, but me? I’m nobody, I mean sure I was the lead in the school musical but that’s about it, there’s nothing special about me.”

__

It’s quiet for a bit. Donghyuck’s got his head down now, hands clasped together. He flinches when he hears the other walk towards him, his heart rate increasing, and it starts to sky rocket with every word that comes out of Mark’s mouth. 

__

“Hyuck, you make me so nervous. I’ve never felt like this about anyone. You’re so good at singing and you’re so smart and talented. You put so much work and effort into everything you do and you're always there for your friends when they need you despite how much you pretend they annoy the hell out of you. God, you’re so beautiful and funny and sweet, I could list all the things I love about you, right here, right now, if you let me.” 

__

Oh my god he’s so close, Donghyuck is about to freak. Mark stands right in front of him, close enough that he can smell what smells like fabric softener and some sort of cologne on him. He’s so sure his heart is about to jump right out of his chest when Mark, lifts his head up so that he can look right at him, the other hand resting on his waist. 

__

“God, you’re gorgeous,” He breathes, Donghyuck’s cheeks flushing not only from the proximity but from the compliment as well. “I love your eyes, they sparkle when you're happy, I love your nose, it’s so cute I just want to kiss it everytime I see you, I love your cheeks, they’re so round and full, and I love your lips.” 

__

He feels faint from the way Mark is brushing his thumb across his cheek, and he almost does faint when he asks if he can kiss him. Donghyuck nods timidly, eyes fluttering closed when he feels Mark’s lips press against his softly. He melts into the kiss, hands coming up to clutch at Mark’s shirt. 

__

When they pull apart, both are smiling stupidly at each other, Mark resting his forehead against his. 

__

“Fucking finally!”

__

Both jump, turning towards the bleachers where their friends are, all caught in varying stages of glee and relief. Chenle shrieks happily, hitting Jisung who makes no move to stop him, already resigning himself to the fate of being the other’s punching bag. Jeno and Jaemin are wearing matching grins, both smiling gleefully at the pair. While Renjun rubs his temples as Lucas joins Chenle in screaming. 

__

“What the fuck guys!?” Donghyuck screeches, face burning. He hears Mark laugh at him, and immediately becomes bashful, suddenly hiding his face in the other’s chest. 

__

It’s not so bad, even with his friends screaming and cheering in the background, not when Mark tightens his hold on Donghyuck, and smiles into his hair. It’s not bad at all.      

__

**Author's Note:**

> So, how was it? Was it good? Was it bad? Did ya love it?  
> If there was any mistakes please please tell me! I kinda looked over it briefly when I was done but if I missed anything I'd appreciate it if you told me!
> 
> Thanks, and if you wanna talk about NCT or any other group, I have twitter, so come yell at me @antisockmonkey


End file.
